The aim of the pilot study presented in the article was to investigate the relationship between self-assessed mindfulness and the declared level of use of metacognitive strategies in learning. The data were collected using two author-designed instruments: the Mindfulness Inventory and the Metacognitive Strategies Inventory. The Metacognitive Strategies Inventory used in the study measures the planning and evaluation of learning activities, the planning of learning content and reflection on the learning process. The results showed that self-declared mindfulness level was positively linked with the intensity of use of all the analysed dimensions of metacognition in learning. The strongest relationship was found between mindfulness and reflection on the learning process. The metacognitive strategies connected with reflection also proved to be the most intensively used by the participants. The findings highlight the importance of developing and implementing educational programmes that integrate mindfulness support with the use of metacognitive strategies in educational practice.

The article presents the factors determining an effective process of supporting people with intellectual disabilities. An in-depth analysis of the determinants on the part of the supporters, the supported, the environment, as well as the support process itself was conducted. The issues of effective support were discussed in the light of contemporary scientific concepts. In addition, classic paradigms of special education were described, taking into account their context in the process of supporting people with intellectual disabilities.

Studies show that people with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience loneliness, but are able to build important bonds with peers. Despite difficulties in establishing relationships, they strongly desire them. Supporting such people in developing social skills and creating situations conducive to interactions is crucial. The aim of the study presented in the article was to determine whether, and if so, to what extent, the needs of people with ASD in building relationships are met and what support they need in this respect. In the research conducted among the participants of the peer volunteering project, in which people with ASD developed social skills with the support of a psychologist, a semi-standardized interview was used. The project brought benefits to the participants – it increased their resistance to negative reactions – and it allowed the volunteers to develop empathy. Building relationships, especially based on common interests, is crucial for the development of people with ASD. Peer volunteering turned out to be an effective platform supporting these processes.

This article presents and sums up many years of art therapy in the Art Studio of the Social Welfare Home for the Chronically Mentally Ill People in Rzeszów. It provides an overview of the selected activities carried out as part of the occupational therapy programme, particularly in cooperation with the Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Rzeszów. The paper also constitutes a reflection on the beneficial impact of art, one’s own creativity and art therapy on the wellbeing of the residents of a social welfare home.

The exercises based on poetry for children, having a distinctive structure and specific linguistic solutions, significantly influence the development of speech in young children, and can therefore be a response to the increasingly lower level of skills such as articulation or prosody among preschool children. In contemporary pedagogical practice, poetic works for children are often forgotten – even though they hold great value, and interacting with them elicits positive reactions from the youngest. The subject of the research presented in the article is the dynamics of six-year-old children’s participation in activities based on children’s poetry, aimed at stimulating the level of speech development. The observation was used in the study. The observation schedule was employed to collect data, in which information about the children’s observed behaviors, including aspects of speech, their activity, interest or lack of thereof was recorded. The research results indicate that activities based on children’s poetry generated great enthusiasm among the youngest. The preschool group of children was highly active during the activities (including verbal activity). The structure of the classes, which included the use of activating methods, was not without significance. The works selected for the activities proved to be timeless and still relevant. They attracted children’s interest due to sound structure, and stimulated the development
of children’s language skills.

This article deals with the problem of individual vocal training of children and adolescents in first- degree music school. The author considers the choice of repertoire to be of crucial importance in the learning of singing at this stage of education, as it determines the development of a student’s interest in singing, his/her progress and often the choice of his/her further artistic path. The selection of repertoire for children should take into account many issues, including the maturity of the child’s vocal tract and its emotional and musical development, which determines the achievement of correct emission and musical interpretation. It is also important to get children interested in performing the songs of Polish composers; the author of the article presented repertoire items that can be used in vocal work with children under the age of 16. In discussing the issue of individual singing lessons in first degree music schools, the issues of voice emission and interpretation of vocal works by young performers, as well as the impact of singing lessons on the development of musical abilities of children and adolescents are also included.

The term “elementary educator” means an educator who rears himself/herself. They are motivated to undertake constant self-formation by the profound awareness of the fact that the basic tool in the rearing process is his/her personality. The aim of this work on oneself – interpreted in a personalistic way – is an integral development of the human being. It is carried out in the life-long process that requires making personal developmental effort on the road “from nature to culture” cooperating with other persons. The model of the culture animator, as presented in the pedagogical current of socio­cultural animation, seems to stand close to the way of thinking about such an inspiring educator. The educator-animator “serves the life” of another person, endeavouring to assist the latter in their cognition and understanding of themselves, as well as in their maturing towards internal freedom, which enables them to take responsibility and towards active, supportive and creative cooperation with other members of a social group.